Pretty Lies
by perfectlyrose
Summary: John Edwards and Rose Tyler are both top level operatives for the same espionage organization and have been designated partners for an imminent mission. They're both more than qualified for the job, the only problem is they in no way want to work with each other. (Eight/Rose Spy AU)
1. Chapter 1

My offering for the dwsecretsanta exchange over on tumblr. The lovely roseinthevoid requested "Spy/espionage AU, where Rose and the Doctor are secret agents of some sort who are forced to work together. Bonus points if there's some initial confusion and they don't quite understand each other's methods!" so that's what this is :D I hope you like it, dear!

This will probably be two or three chapters :)

* * *

"No," he said, shaking his his head. "No, this is not going to work at all."

"John, it's our best option. Can you at least pretend to consider it?" Romana asked, exasperation coloring her voice. She'd known he would be resistant to her proposition but she hadn't expected him to dismiss it out of hand.

"No. This is insane. You can't expect to just give me a new partner and send the two of us on a mission the next day with no prep or time to figure out if we can even work with each other," John retorted. He was pacing Romana's office, having gotten to his feet when she attempted to broach the topic at hand.

"The buyer is expecting you particularly."

"And I'll be there, just not with this 'Rose' that you seem intent on foisting on me."

Romana sighed, resisting the strong urge to roll her eyes. John was a friend and one of her best assets but he was impossibly stubborn at times. "The buyer is expecting you to come with your partner, a blonde woman. He's heard stories from others, apparently, that tell of how you're usually accompanied by a pretty, blonde companion." Romana waited until he met her gaze before commenting dryly, "You have developed a type, it seems."

"Two hardly constitutes a type," John protested. He flopped down artlessly in one of the chairs in front of Romana's desk. "Speaking of which, isn't Charley or Lucie available for this mission? I know I can work with them."

"Your demands to work almost exclusively with one of them on missions requiring a partner is why you have a reputation for having a blonde on your arm."

"Come on, Romana, you know it's not like that with them," he said, hearing her insinuations building with every comment.

She just gave him a hard look until he started talking again.

"Alright, fine, it was like that with Charley for a bit but that's over now. Lucie and I have always just been friends and that's how it will always stay."

"That's all fine and good but Charley's liaising with another agency for the foreseeable future and Lucie's on another assignment and won't be available for at least another two months. This mission is a matter of some urgency, as you well know." She pinned him with a glare. "You're going to go on this assignment with Rose because I am ordering you to and I'm in charge."

"You enjoy telling me that far too much," he grumbled.

"Maybe you should actually start listening," she shot back. "Maybe then I wouldn't have to remind you of it so often."

"Then where would you get your entertainment from?" John drawled out, lazy smile on his face.

Romana knew he was faking it, could still read tension and displeasure in the tautness of his muscles and lines of his face even as he affected a boneless sprawl and carefree smile. He'd do what she ordered him to do but he was not going to make it easy on anyone.

"I'm sure I'd figure it out."

"So, when am I going to meet this thorn in my side?" John asked when it became apparent that Romana was not going to dismiss him anytime soon.

Romana bit back a smile. "I'd advise you not to make any Rose-related puns where she can hear you."

"She not find them funny?"

"She'd probably deck you."

"I'll take my chances. I don't think I can work with someone who doesn't enjoy puns," he said.

It was getting more difficult with every word he said for Romana not to roll her eyes. If it wasn't unprofessional she would have done so ten times already. "Lucie groaned at more than half of your puns."

"That's appreciation at its finest."

"This is probably why I have a list of assets that refuse to work with you," Romana sighed.

"There's a list?" John asked, perking up. "Why have people requested to be put on it? And how?"

"You're not going to put Rose on the list just to get out of working with her."

"I really do want to know how one gets on this list," he pushed.

"Later," Romana said, already regretting divulging its existence.

"Fine. You never did answer me as to when I'm meeting this partner." John pronounced the last word like it was vile.

Romana had just opened her mouth to tell him off again, to remind him that working with Rose was necessary and he was going to do it whether he liked it or not, when there was a knock at the door.

Before Romana could call out an answer, the door swung open and a blonde in a pink top and form-fitting jeans stormed into the room.

"What do you mean you're assigning me a mission that I leave on tomorrow with a partner I've never met? I just got back from New York yesterday, Romana!"

John watched with interest as the blonde was waved her mobile around while speaking, apparently having been informed of her mission via text or email if she hadn't had a chance to give Romana an earful already.

Honestly, he could appreciate anyone who waltzed into the Director of Operations for the entire agency's office and started yelling. He'd done it a time or two himself.

Romana rubbed at her temples. These two were honestly going to be the death of her. She chanced a glance at John and saw the small smile playing across his face. He obviously hadn't pieced everything together yet if he was still amused.

This should be fun.

"I'm aware that you just got back but I need you on this mission. You're the best asset for the job and we can't afford it going wrong," she started, well aware that she was going to be interrupted.

"You haven't even told me who my partner is. You know I don't like breaking in new partners on short notice," the blonde huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She hadn't once looked in John's direction and Romana wasn't sure she'd even noticed his presence.

"Well, he's experienced so you don't have to worry about that aspect overly much," she hedged.

"Just tell me who he is so I can get in touch with him and start planning things."

"He's right here, sitting around distracting me from my work while he complains." Romana gestured to John whose smile had rapidly disappeared as he sat bolt upright in the chair. "Rose Tyler, meet John Edwards."

Rose finally turned to take a look at the man she'd vaguely registered as being in the room. John almost felt insulted by the way she flicked her eyes over him twice before turning back to Romana, unimpressed look on her face.

"No. You're not pairing me off at the last minute with someone who has a reputation of not working well with others," she said, crossing her arms again and thrusting her chin out stubbornly.

"I'm right here you know," John snipped, irked at her immediate dismissal. "No need to talk about me like I'm not in the room."

Rose turned on him and Romana's comment about Rose decking him flashed through his mind. The woman in front of him definitely looked capable of delivering a punch and more than willing to give it a try.

"I'd rather not talk to you at all, ta," she said with a sickly sweet smile. "You don't play well with others and I'd rather not risk working with you and getting a black mark next to my name because you complain about me when we get back."

"You planning on doing something that would warrant me complaining?" John shot back, deliberately leaning back in his chair to look like this conversation wasn't bothering him.

"Not specifically but you always find something to complain about when you're forced to work with someone and I'm not going to put up with your shit."

John surged to his feet and took a step towards the fuming blonde. "Has it occurred to you that I'm not any happier being assigned to work with you than you are to be assigned to me? I don't want to work with someone new."

"Well that makes two of us. Maybe you should go on your own."

"With pleasure," he drawled. He turned back to Romana and gave her a look that communicated that he thought he was right and that he had won whatever argument he thought they were having.

"Neither of you are getting out of it. We don't have anyone else who can go on such short notice and the mark is expecting John specifically," Romana explained.

"That doesn't mean I have to go with him," Rose cut in.

Romana kept talking, ignoring Rose's statement. "Not only is he expecting John, he's expecting him to show up with a blonde female."

The blonde in question's eyes caught fire. "So not only am I being stuck with someone I don't want to work with, you're tellin' me I'm just supposed to be arm candy?"

"No, you're going to work, just like he is. If the buyer thinks you're arm candy then it'll just make the job easier."

Rose muttered something under her breath that neither John nor Romana caught.

"Are you sure I have to have a partner?" John tried, just one more time.

"Yes," the director answered, a note of finality in her voice. "Now the two of you need to quit cluttering up my office, I have work to do. The details of your assignment will be sent to you shortly, until then, John please bring Rose up to speed on what you know."

They both stared at her, disbelief plain on their faces. She suppressed yet another sigh. "Leave. Now. You can come back and complain later when I'm not busy."

Romana watched as they silently turned their backs on her and left the room, both of them still tense with anger. When the door closed she rubbed her temples, smiling softly. She'd been looking for a good reason to get Rose and John working together. John would actually be able to keep up with Rose and vice versa, which was hard for most of her agents to do. Plus, she had a feeling that Rose could more than handle John and his ego and quirks and that took a special kind of person.

If they could get over their animosity, she felt like they could be the best partners the organization had ever seen, maybe even the world. She couldn't wait to see how it played out.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Once they were outside Romana's office, John and Rose just looked at each other for a moment, neither really knowing where to start.

"Well, I'm starved so why don't we go get food before you start briefing me," Rose suggested.

"Food doesn't sound like a bad idea. What do you have in mind?" John answered cautiously. He wasn't sure what to expect from this woman yet.

"Chips," she said, raising an eyebrow like that should have been obvious. "I've been in New York and it's almost impossible to find decent chips."

"Lead the way, then," he said, gesturing towards the lift.

They were silent the entire way to the chippy and John had the distinct impression that she was freezing him out intentionally, especially when she was so cheerfully friendly to anyone else she interacted with.

They were going to have a lot of work to do before the mission.

As soon as they both had packets of fish and chips they headed back to headquarters so they could discuss the mission openly.

"So, what's so important that they're forcing us to work together when we don't want to?" Rose asked as she licked her fingers. The vinegar she'd slathered on her chips stung her lips and she almost hummed in pleasure. She loved travelling but being away from authentic chips for months at a time was always hard.

"Arms dealer," he said succinctly after swallowing a bite of fish. "Kingpin of the weapons ring I've been trying to take down for the last year."

"I take it this isn't your run of the mill arms dealer then?"

"Not in the slightest," he drawled before beginning to list all the militant groups their target had armed.

Rose held her hand up to halt him. "Okay, I get it. He's dangerous and needs to be taken down. Why exactly do you need to have a blonde with you, though?"

John looked down at his last two remaining chips. He slowly picked on up and bit down on it, the starchy, fried vegetable exploding on his tongue. He savored the individual grains of salt before looking back at his partner who was waiting with ill-concealed impatience for an answer as to why she had been deemed necessary for this mission that seemed like his pet project.

"The first time I encountered the ring, I was working with Charley," he said after washing down his bite with a drink of water. "She was with me through the first few contacts with the minor players as I tried to find a way in. She ended up getting reassigned though," he shifted his gaze, not really wanting to let on that Charley had requested the transfer. They were on good terms now but their breakup, both romantic and professional, had not been the cleanest.

"After she left, Lucie was assigned to help me with the case. She's also blonde so the people in the weapons ring think I just have a type and a new woman on my arm every few months, apparently," he grimaced to make his displeasure at their assumption obvious.

"And they'd think it was suspicious if you showed up without a blonde, then?" Rose asked, holding back the questions she wanted to ask about his former partners. They seemed to be important but not something he wanted to talk about.

"Apparently," he repeated. "All reports of me to the man in charge have included my predilections so that's what he's expecting."

Rose leaned back in her chair with a huff. "No offense, but this is bullshit."

"I agree. I don't like working with new people, especially with this much on the line."

"Neither do I. I don't even know how you operate or have any background on this group yet. It's driving me spare."

"Like to have everything planned out?" He asked, interested to get a glimpse into the operating methods he would be having to mesh with.

"Maybe not _everything_ , but I do like to know what I'm getting into, yeah. It's usually useful to know the basics about all the players and the venue if possible so that if a plan goes pear-shaped like it normally does it's easier to come up with a new plan on the run."

John shrugged,small smile playing on his lips. "I'm more of the jump in headfirst and see what happens type."

Rose stared at him. "How are you not dead?"

"Bit like a cat, have nine lives or something," he replied flippantly.

"Used up most of them?" She shot back, narrowing her eyes at him.

"About eight of them."

"Great, so you're going to finally run out of luck on my watch."

"Not likely. I'm afraid you're rather stuck with me until the end of the mission." John was having to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

Rose opened her mouth to answer but the ding of her phone going off distracted her. John's vibrated a moment later. They exchanged a look and then both reached for their devices.

Mission details had arrived and it was time to get to work.


	2. Chapter 2

"You've got to be kidding me," Rose said flatly. She was staring at the dresses that had been delivered to her as the wardrobe for the mission. "I know I'm supposed to be playing a dumb blonde, but this is a bit overkill."

The agent who had handed her the dresses took a step backwards, holding up his hands. "I didn't pick them, I'm just the delivery boy."

Rose visibly bit back another acerbic comment. "Fine, but tell whoever did pick them out that I'm stopping by for a word when I get back."

The man nodded sharply before practically fleeing.

"Think you scared the poor man half-senseless," John commented from where he was sprawled in a chair across the room. They'd been holed up in one of the innumerable conference rooms at headquarters trying to get all the details of their mission ironed out for the last two hours. Of course, they'd spent most of the time sniping at each other instead of working but they were slowly hashing out a plan.

Rose tossed the garment bags on the table before leveling a glare at him. "Good, that's the only way to get wardrobe to ever dress me in something that has a hemline lower than mid-thigh. Have to remind them that I am actually an agent and not a bimbo."

"Shouldn't take out your frustration on him though," he said, leaning forward to see if he could get a glimpse of the dresses Rose was upset about. There was no denying that his reluctant partner was attractive and if he got to see her in an outfit that was a little on the skimpy side it might just redeem this whole disaster of a mission.

(Romana would never let him live it down if she figured out that he really did have a type and, aesthetically, Rose was hitting all the right buttons.)

(All the wrong ones too, though. She seemed to instinctively know how to annoy him with minimal effort.)

She stepped in between him and the clothes, blocking his view. "I'm aware. That's why I stopped yellin' at him."

John sat back in his chair in an easy sprawl, every bit of the cat he had jokingly told her he was. "I just meant that you are mostly frustrated with me and shouldn't take that out on someone from wardrobe."

"I would take it out on you but I'd probably strangle you and then Romana would yell at me for sabotaging the mission and I don't really want to deal with that at the moment," Rose shot back. She leaned against the table behind her and snagged the stack of papers that contained their basic mission plan.

"Why is everyone more scared of Romana than me?" John bemoaned with a sigh as he propped his feet up on the table next to Rose.

She just gave him a quizzical look. "I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer."

"It was a serious question," he insisted, biting back the grin that was trying to fight its way onto his face. He'd probably pay for antagonizing Rose later but right now it was worth it. Maybe they'd somehow annoy each other into forming a functional partnership.

"Romana basically has laser eyes. She can see into your soul and melt it and destroy you with a glance." Rose deadpanned before looking back down at her papers. She paused and looked back up to give John another dismissive once-over. "You just look like an overgrown puppy whose favorite toy has been taken away. Not nearly as much of a visual threat as our dear Director."

John swung his legs back to the floor and pulled himself up. A few steps put him next to Rose and he leaned over to whisper in to her ear. "Looks can be deceiving though."

Rose fought back a shiver at the feeling of his breath hitting her skin but John still caught the involuntary reaction and grinned triumphantly at finally having the clear upper hand for at least a second.

"Oi, out of my personal space," she said, recovering from the brief lapse and stepping away from him. "And I'm a spy, I think I know that appearances can be deceiving, thanks. I've heard stories about you and know you're not as harmless as you look. That is, if those stories are to believed."

There was an implied question in her words but he ignored it, taking a step back towards her and eliminating the space she'd put between them. "You're going to have to get used to having me in your personal space for this mission. They think you're my girlfriend, remember?"

"How could I forget," she said dryly. "Mission hasn't started yet though, so, shift."

John took a step back, not wanting to test the potency of the threat underpinning her innocuous words just yet. There would be plenty of time to test boundaries later, preferably when it didn't look like she was weighing the merits against the ramifications of just socking him in the jaw.

Rose shook her head slightly and looked down at the dossier in her hands. "This has all the makings of turning into a disaster, you know."

"Because of the mission parameters or because of us?" He asked reclaiming his seat and popping a sweet into his mouth from the bag he'd bought at the vending machine earlier.

"Both. I mean, we're supposed to act like we're sleeping together and inseparable when we can hardly go two seconds without yellin' at each other. Not only that, but there'll be no backup for us within 200 kilometers if something goes wrong and we'll be in the middle of a huge cache of weapons if something does go to shit and people start trying to kill us."

"Sounds like my ideal date night," John said flippantly, tossing one of the sweets towards Rose.

She rolled her eyes but he caught the little flicker of a smile that danced over her face for a fraction of a second. The sweet landed on her papers and she gave him a sideways glance before picking it up and eating it.

A few minutes passed in silence, Rose looking at her papers, John steadily eating his way through the bag of candy, occasionally tossing one at Rose.

She ate every single one but never bothered to look up to either thank him or chastise him.

He knew it was just a matter of time until she broke down and said something so he sits and waits and watches. He started counting the seconds when she started fidgeting. Her hair gets tucked behind her ears more than necessary, her fingers toys with the corners of pages or drum a rhythm against her thigh and his smile grows with each tic.

He'd just made it to 48 seconds in his internal count when she looks up and her resistance breaks completely upon seeing him sprawled in his chair, doing nothing but smiling smugly at her.

"How can you be sitting there doing nothing?" She exclaimed, exasperation plain. "We have no solid plans and you can't possibly be completely comfortable with our backstory yet."

John took in the tense set of her shoulders and the crease between her eyebrows and decided now was probably not the best time to continue needling her. "Told you already, I don't really do concrete plans. And I've been working on parts of this mission for some time now and have already met most of the major players, so I don't need to learn as much background as you feel you have to."

Rose sighed and brought a hand up to rub at her temples. "I hate last minute assignments."

"How are you a spy if you don't like thinking on your feet?" John asked after a few seconds. Pretty much everyone he'd worked with had been fine with his way of minimal planning and making it up as they went along. It was quite honestly an essential part of the job, as far as he was concerned.

Rose's eyes flashed, annoyance flaring. "Oh, I love thinking on my feet and adjusting to things that I don't expect but I like to be prepared before things go to shit."

John steepled his fingers, considering her words. They made sense. She made sense — planning and preparing so that she could be more effectively spontaneous and adaptable in the field. It wasn't how he operated but it sounded like a fairly good system.

"I see," he said after a moment. "Are you going to have enough time to prepare?"

Rose glared at him. "I'm going to be ready whether I have enough time or not. Romana's made it very clear that you're not pawning me off so stop tryin' to come up with ways to do so."

He huffed. "I wasn't."

"You were."

"Our flight leaves in four hours. Pardon me for trying to figure out if my partner is going to be up to the job," he shot back, his expression bordering on a sneer.

"I'll be ready," Rose snapped. "I'm a professional, just like you. You should probably keep that in mind."

With that she pushed off from the table and started walking towards the door. "I need some air. Please don't come anywhere near me unless it's life or death. I'll be back later."

John had the brief thought as she stalked out the door that it would quickly become a life or death situation for him if he did follow her.

He waited five minutes before walking out the door to find her.

He found her walking through the indoor garden two floors down, still staring at the pages of the dossier with intense concentration. It was like she was willing the information contained within to crawl inside of her soul and live there for the duration of the mission. She was probably a force to be reckoned with on in-depth missions, he mused, a veritable chameleon with scads of knowledge always on the tip of her tongue. This mission was his turf though, his command, and he needed to know that she would be able to follow his lead.

He had only made it a few steps from the door when it slammed shut and Rose's head snapped up. John barely had time to register the fire in her eyes and the snarl on her face before he was pressed against the wall with her forearm against his throat.

"What part of don't follow me didn't you understand?" She growled, eyes locked with his.

John didn't back down, meeting her glare steadily with one of his own. "It would be easier to explain if there wasn't an arm on my throat," he said quietly, his own brand of danger underlying his words. He could take her down, probably, but he'd really rather not go down that particular road at the moment.

Rose applied more pressure. "'M not letting you go until you explain to me why you're here."

"I just thought it would be more prudent for us to work together," he hazarded.

"You weren't working so that's not a good reason," she shot back.

John bared his teeth in an expression that in no way resembled a smile and pushed back against her arm. "Fine," he said, disdain and arrogance dripping from his words like honey. "I followed you to make sure you weren't cracking under the pressure. I'm not going into the field with someone who's going to fall apart at the slightest provocation."

"I'm a fully vetted and experienced agent of this organization, Doctor," she snarled, his codename sounding like an insult when paired with her sneer. "I can handle myself without falling apart. I just wanted some time away from you so I could think."

"Can you please take your arm off my throat now?" He asked, not responding to her statement.

The air between them was charged with tension, practically crackled with it, and John couldn't resist breaking her gaze to glance down at her lips. Rose's tongue darted out to wet them and then she took a step back, dropping her arm.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"We're going to be in each other's pockets for the entire mission," Rose said, glancing away from him. "I just needed a bit of time to myself to finish decompressing from my previous mission and memorizing my backstory for this one."

"I'll leave you to it. Come find me when you're ready and we can quiz each other on our covers and finish figuring out what to say if they ask us about our history as a couple," John offered, lopsided smile a peace offering. They could finish figuring out their power dynamics later as well. Preferably at a time when she hadn't just attacked him.

"Didn't figure anyone would actually try and talk to the arm candy," Rose muttered, clearly still bitter about her role in the scheme of the mission.

"They'll talk to you. They're very careful and picky about who's let into their inner sanctum. They mostly trust me so they'll trust you by association but we still have to be on guard."

Rose bit her bottom lip and then nodded sharply. "I'll find you when I'm done studying."

John knew a dismissal when he heard one and the fact that she turned her back on him only confirmed it. He slipped out of the garden room and shook his head. It was going to be an interesting mission, no doubt about that.

Neither knew whether their partner or the arms dealer would be the bigger threat and all either of them could hope was that they would make it out unscathed.


	3. Chapter 3

for a reference to what dress is wearing (so you know exactly how doomed John is when he sees her), I've put a link in my profile description.

* * *

"Okay, so we've been together for two months. Met at a party being thrown by one of your London contacts," Rose confirmed, repeating the details they'd decided on. She and John were on a plane on their way to the mission. John's cover included a private jet so they were at least comfortable and able to discuss their mission while en route.

"Yes. I'd just broken up with Jessica, which was Lucie's cover, and was on the rebound. We met, hit it off and started seeing each other."

"Great, I'm your rebound relationship, how appropriate," Rose drawled, rolling her eyes.

John huffed. "It gives us a reason to be practically inseparable. If we're newly together still and have a relationship based on physical attraction they will expect us to not be able to keep our hands off of each other and will help our case if they ask us a personal question we don't know the answer to." He paused a beat. "Plus it will explain any instance of us not liking each other very much."

"That's true. At least the dresses they gave me should make it very easy for you to fake the physical attraction," Rose commented, looking back down at her notes.

John didn't think there would be any faking involved in that area but he wasn't about to tell her that. "You going to have any problem doing the same?" he asked, needing confirmation.

Rose dragged her eyes over him, considering. "No, you look like you'll fill out a suit quite nicely."

Rose laughed at John's preening and he felt a swoop in his belly that he thought just might be hope. They had the potential to get along but the moments like this had been few and far between so far. They needed more of them if they were going to get through this job.

Then again, he had worked with people he liked much less than Rose and had completed successful missions with them. It was all just a matter of their covers getting along and the two of them being able to pick up on each other's cues.

Walk in the park, really.

"We'll be arriving at your destination in half an hour," the pilot said over the intercom, breaking into John's reverie.

"That's my cue," Rose said, hauling herself to her feet.

John's eyebrows drew together in puzzlement.

"Have to get dressed and all that," Rose explained. "Dibs on the loo, you can get dressed out here."

Rose was closing the door to the loo, garment bag in hand before John could even consider mustering a response.

He quickly changed into his suit and was straightening the cerulean tie when he heard the click of the loo door. He turned, comment about them having to strap in for landing on the tip of his tongue.

Rather, it _was_ on the tip of his tongue before he caught sight of his partner and had his breath and words stolen from him in one fell swoop.

She was wearing a red dress with a very low, wide v neckline. John gulped as his gaze lingered on her chest for an extra second. There was no way she'd managed to conceal a bra under that dress and, damn, that was going to be in the back of his mind for the rest of the day. No way he'd be having to fake the physical attraction.

The dress clung tightly to her torso before flowing over her hips and stopping just below the knees. He let his eyes wander all the way down to her black heels before he dragged his gaze back up her body to meet her eyes.

Rose smirked, bright red lips highlighting the expression. "Told you the dresses they gave me would make the whole fake attraction bit a nonissue," she said, walking up to him. She batted his hand away from his tie and straightened it herself while he tried to fight back a shiver at the feeling of her fingers brushing against his chest.

She looked up at him, brown eyes wide and lips parted. "You're going to have to play it better if you want them to think we're actually a couple," she murmured, eyes flickering down to his mouth briefly. "You went all stiff on me, and not in a good way."

John had to blindly grasp for the threads of his self-control so he didn't start checking to see if her lipstick was kiss-proof. He schooled his face into a more neutral expression then rested his hands on her hips, pulling her closer.

"Just surprised me, that's all," he said softly, voice deeper than normal. "Thought you said wardrobe usually made you dress like a bimbo."

Rose rolled her eyes. "This is the most modest of the lot and have you seen the neckline on this dress? And the color? Everyone will be looking at me so you should have plenty of opportunity to snoop."

"Mmm, that's true," he said, sneaking another glance at the neckline in question.

"John, if you don't stop looking down my dress when there's no one around to see you doing it, you're going to find out exactly how fast I can get to the knives in my garters," Rose said dryly.

John took a step back, releasing her. He ran his eyes over her again, taking in the whole dress and trying to see if he could spot the outline of the daggers she was threatening him with. He met her eyes again, smile crossing his face at her raised eyebrow and pursed lips. "I'd apologize but I'm really not sorry."

"Wanker." Rose turned her back on him and went to her seat. Her heels clicked softly on the hard floor and the switch of her hips revealed that she definitely knew he was watching.

John sat opposite of her and fastened his seatbelt. "Ready for this?" he asked.

"As I'm going to be. You?"

"Born ready," he drawled.

They were silent as the plane began its final descent and landed safely on the private airstrip maintained by the criminal syndicate they were there to meet with. John glanced around to make sure he had found all the papers from their dossiers and none of them were lying out. He'd tried to put everything away in the safe while Rose was changing so as to not blow their covers if anyone came onto the plane, but he was just nervous enough to double check.

"You got everything, Doctor," Rose soothed, noticing his eyes darting around the cabin. "It's all put away."

John just nodded sharply. Apparently she was able to push their animosity to the side as the mission became eminent. He assumed the uptick in her flirting was also a product of her getting into character. They'd clicked better since she'd changed into her dress and started slipping into character but the attraction simmering between them, evident in stolen glances and small smiles, was no charade.

He was starting to feel that it would be easy as anything to convince people they were in a relationship.

The plane slowed to a stop and both of them rose from their seats to move towards the door. Rose stopped him with a hand to the arm.

"You're going to stick to the plan, right?" she asked. "Get in, identify who's in charge, buy the weapons, get out, send backup in to take everyone down."

John smiled down at her, shaking his head slightly. "I'll try, but you know my reputation."

"Do I ever," Rose muttered. "Probably end up running for our lives while someone shoots at us."

"Always an entertaining end to a mission," he quipped.

Rose shook her head despairingly. "These are my favorite heels and if you make me leave them behind because we're running I'm going to be extremely upset with you."

"Understood," he replied, amused.

He tried to pull away and make for the door again but she didn't let go of his arm, holding him in place. "Come here," she ordered. "You look much too put together for someone who just spent hours alone on a plane with someone he supposedly can't keep his hands off of."

"And what do you plan to do about that?" He asked, cursing internally at the obvious curiosity in his voice. No need to let Rose know that he was feeling a little off-kilter with her so close to him.

Rose tilted her head, considering, then reached up and put both of her hands in his hair. She pulled gently and twisted and ruffled his curls before releasing him. She stared at him for a moment judging her work and, as far as he could tell, completely unaware of the frissions of pleasure she'd sent shooting down his spine and through his veins with her actions.

 _Just getting into character_ , he reminded himself. Rose was more method than he was and this woman who was currently tugging on his jacket and tie to muss them slightly was some combination of her cover and herself. Rose Tyler on her own had made it very clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. And that was fine. Completely fine.

She ran a critical eye over him. "One more thing," she promised. Faster than he could process, she moved closer to him, breasts brushing against his chest as she placed a lingering, open mouthed kiss to a spot right behind his ear.

He could feel himself flushing as she pulled away.

"Alright, you look properly satisfied now. Go assure our hosts that it really is us in the plane."

John stayed put even as she tried to shoo him towards the door. "What about you? You still look perfect."

"Thanks for that," Rose said with a wink. "I'll take care of myself though. Don't worry about it."

John pushed down the little zing of disappointment and started walking towards the front of the plane.

"And John," his partner called one more time. He turned to look at her, eyebrow raised. "I was right about you filling out a suit nicely."

John flashed her a grin before he resumed the task at hand. With every step he took he buried "John" down a little further, bringing his cover identity of Edward Smythe to the forefront of his mind.

He opened the door of the plane and stood in the opening as the stairway descended to the ground.

"Mr. Smythe!" One of the men waiting for him called out. Peter something if John was remembering correctly. "Welcome."

"It's a pleasure to be here, Peter," John said, descending the stairway and shaking the man's hand, smile wide and amicable. "Will be even better when I've given your boss all of my money though, eh?"

The man chuckled, as did his partner who John didn't remember meeting before.

"Where's your lady friend?" Peter asked, glancing past John at the plane.

"What makes you think I brought one along this time?" John asked. He let a sly, satisfied smirk creep onto his face.

"Your expression gives you away, my friend," Peter said. "You also have a bit of lipstick on your neck."

"That little minx," John muttered, making sure his expression was adequately besotted as he dabbed at the spot where Rose had kissed him with his pocket square.

Peter laughed. "I'd ask if you had a good flight but that question seems to have already been answered."

"She's a handful," John confided.

"Jessica, right?" Peter asked, face scrunching up as he tried to remember the name.

"Oh no, no, no," he corrected. "Jessica's been gone a couple of months now. Have my new girl with me."

He opened his mouth to tell them about Rose's cover but Peter and his partner's eyes both glazed over as they looked past him. John shook his head, real smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Rose must have made her appearance.

John turned and felt his jaw drop a little as well. Rose was standing at the top of the stairs, bright red dress contrasted against the dark background. Her hair was a bit mussed and he could swear that her neckline had plunged just a tiny bit lower.

"Edward, love, can you come help me down these stairs?" she called, voice a bit more polished than it had been previously, in keeping with the posh background of her cover. "I don't want to break an ankle and ruin our holiday."

"Of course, dear," he said moving towards the plane. He bounded up the steps and offered his arm.

"You make quite an entrance," he murmured close to her ear.

"I'm supposed to be the flashy one, remember?" She teased, smiling up at him.

"Just so long as you're not flashing people," he shot back.

Rose let out a laugh and swatted him on the arm. "Cheeky." She looked at the two men who were watching her closely. "He's a cheeky one, isn't he?" she asked them, leaning into John's arm further.

They just both looked a little bewildered.

John cut into the silence smoothly. "As I was telling you, this is my companion for this trip. May I introduce Marion Lewis?"

"It's lovely to meet you," Rose enthused as she held out her free hand for each man to shake in turn.

"Marion, this is Peter and…"

"Nathan," the other man said, voice like gravel.

"Charmed."

John was pretty sure Rose's smile could have powered the entire country. Romana definitely hadn't mislead him when she said that Rose was one of her best agents, it was obvious just from these few minutes of watching her work.

They walked into the warehouse next to the airstrip with Peter and Nathan, Rose chattering at them about the flight and the weather all the while, clinging to him like her life depended on it, breasts pressing into his arm. With every fleeting extra touch she bestowed upon him, John could feel his not-insignificant defenses against this woman crumbling a tiny bit more.

This mission was getting a whole lot more dangerous than he'd anticipated and not just because he'd already spotted more guns than he'd expected at their most public warehouse as they walked to the SUV.

No, this was getting dangerous on a personal level which was much more frightening.

Rose settled next to him in the car, pressing her thigh against his before leaning up to whisper in his ear.

"Something wrong? You've gone all spacey."

"Nothing wrong, dear," he said, just loud enough for the men to hear and think that they weren't meant to hear.

"Then get your head in the game," she hissed, too quiet for their escorts to make out.

John's mouth quirked upwards. That was more the Rose he was used to so far. He was just going to have to work harder to separate Rose and Marion in his head.

The fact that he was undeniably attracted to the woman who was both of them was something he was just going to have to deal with. Preferably after the mission was successfully completed since said woman would likely rather rip his tongue out of his mouth rather than kiss him as herself.

Yeah, better wait to tackle that particular problem after they dealt with the arms dealers. He rather needed his tongue to get through this.


	4. Chapter 4

I apologize for the long gap between updates. I was stuck for a while and then I've been on a complete writing hiatus for the past couple of weeks as I was not in a good place re: my feelings about my writing.

Good news is, I'm back with a new chapter! Bit shorter than previous chapters but...still a new chapter! Thanks for sticking with me! I'm estimating about two more chapter left to this fic btw, but we know that my estimates are subject to being very very wrong.

* * *

"Marion, was it?" the man in the passenger seat, Peter, asked after silence had reigned in the car for a few minutes.

"Yes, that's me," Rose answered brightly.

"How did you meet our friend Edward?"

"Oh, we were both at some party in London," she answered, leaning forward slightly without taking her hand off of John's thigh. "It was dreadfully boring, as most parties are with everyone just trying to rub elbows with the right people, and I was about to leave and find somewhere more exciting when Edward here walked in. Things were _much_ more exciting after he got there and I could try and entice him into rubbing something more than elbows."

John fought back a smile as the criminal in the front seat honest-to-god blushed at the satisfied expression on his partner's face and the insinuation in her voice. "We've been practically inseparable ever since," he added. "On our way to Paris after this to celebrate our anniversary actually. Bit of a celebratory holiday."

"Edward here never told me what exactly it is you do," Rose said.

"We're just businessmen, dealing with supplying discerning customers with what they require," the driver said gruffly.

"And that would be why he never bothered to explain," she said with a small laugh. "I'm terrible at anything business related, never had the head for it. Give me a bit of fabric or a sketchbook and that's all I need, I can always pay someone to take care of the books."

"Marion's an up and coming fashion designer," John explained.

"Hopefully one day people will have actually heard of me."

They were exchanging sappy smiles in the backseat when the car rolled to a stop.

"We're here," Nathan announced, immediately turning the vehicle off and getting out.

"Well he's a sociable one," Rose commented softly.

"Not the brightest, I don't think," John whispered back. "Works to our advantage."

"If you say so," she answered with a roll of her eyes.

"I do," he shot back with a wink before opening the car door and sliding out. He extended a hand to help Rose out of the car, using the opportunity to conspicuously steal another peek down her dress.

He caught Peter's eye when he looked back up and was met with a knowing nod from the other man. He at least was buying their relationship completely.

"Oh, you didn't tell me we were visiting a castle!" Rose exclaimed, playfully swatting John's arm as she took in the structure in front of them.

"I didn't know, sweetheart."

They exchanged a look as they followed their escorts into the building. If things went pear-shaped, their comms were not going to work well, if at all, through all the stone. They were more on their own than they'd anticipated.

Rose continued making seemingly inane comments about the castle as they walked up to it, asking questions about how big it was and when it had been built. Peter was more than willing to answer her every query and John could have kissed her for using her cover so effectively to gather strategic intel about their location.

"Since Marion is so interested in the castle, Nathan could take her on a tour while we go finalize our business. I'm sure she'd be bored with our dealings anyways," Peter said when they paused in the entrance hall. He clapped a hand on his partner's shoulder. "You wouldn't know it from looking at him but he's the real history buff of the two of us and knows the ins and outs of this place better than anyone."

"That would be brilliant," Rose enthused. "I really would be dreadfully bored in whatever meetings and such Edward has to deal with. I'd much rather see some of this lovely castle."

"It would be my pleasure to show you around," Nathan said, extending an arm, enthusiasm in his voice at complete odds with his neutral facial expression.

"Then it's settled," she said. "I'll see you when you're finished?"

John nodded. "I'm sure my business won't take too terribly long. No more than an hour, I'd say."

Peter confirmed the timeline and John saw Rose nod in understanding that if she hadn't seen him within an hour something had gone wrong.

"Have fun, love." Rose leaned up and pressed a kiss to John's cheek before taking the other man's arm and letting him lead her off, gravelly voice already rattling off historical tidbits about their location.

John watched her go as he wiped the lipstick off of his cheek, knowing that she was switching her hips more than was strictly necessary and appreciating the show and the way her legs looked in those heels. They were her favorites for a good reason, he supposed. If they got left behind he'd have to buy her another pair, it'd be a crime for the world to be deprived of such beauty.

He shook his head. He had a bad feeling about splitting up this early in the game but there was nothing he could do to stop it without blowing their cover. John had no doubt that Rose could handle herself but he still didn't want her too far away in case things went to hell and they had to get out of dodge fast.

"Quite the girl you've got there," Peter commented, interrupting his train of thought.

"That's one way of putting it," John answered with a chuckle. "She's a handful, for sure."

"Ah, but a nice one, eh?" He said slyly, making a grabbing motion with his hand.

"She's definitely that," John agreed. He clapped his hands together and turned to the other man with a bright smile. "Now, let's get down to business, shall we? Wouldn't want to keep the lady waiting later or your boss waiting now."

"Right you are. This way."

Peter led him in the opposite direction that Nathan and Rose had gone and, as they wound their way through the castle corridors, John noticed more and more closed and locked rooms.

"Are all these rooms used?" he asked, adopting the same innocently curious tone Rose had been using earlier to ask about the castle.

"Yes, we store the merchandise in them," his escort answered. "It's all perfectly safe of course. No one but the very trusted ever see this castle."

"Glad I made the short list," John drawled dryly.

"Of course, friend," Peter answered with a laugh. "We've known you for years now, it's about time you got to meet the boss."

"Been looking forward to it," he said, mentally calculating a tally of the rooms they were passing. It was impossible to know how big the rooms were and what kind of weapons were being kept in each but he could at least cobble together a rough estimate from what he was seeing and none of it was good. Between this main base of operations and the warehouse he'd seen earlier, this weapons ring was much bigger than he'd previously been led to believe.

"No more waiting, now," Peter announced. "Mr. Morvay is expecting you."

With that, he knocked on the door that the corridor dead ended into and waited until a deep voice on the other side called for them to enter before opening the door and gesturing for John to enter first.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Forty-five minutes later, John, Mr. Morvay, and Peter reentered the entrance hall. The business John had come to conduct, buying enough weapons to arm a small army, had been completed without a hitch. He had memorized the face of the small, suited, and bespectacled man who was apparently running the whole thing so he could relay it to the strike team that was waiting for their intel and he was very ready to find Rose, get the hell out of this castle, and call this mission complete.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Smythe," Morvay said, extending his hand for a handshake. John took him up on the offer heartily. "I did hear that you brought a lovely young woman with you. I do hope you won't be opposed to staying around for dinner so I can get to know the pair of you a bit better."

John opened his mouth to try and worm out of the invitation but Morvay continued talking. "I do like to know who I'm doing business with, after all."

He winced internally at the steel underneath the silky voice. There was no way to gracefully leave before dinner now, not without raising suspicion. "Of course," he said aloud. "Marion and I would be honored to join you for a meal. We have reservations at a hotel in Paris tonight but I'm sure they won't mind a late check-in."

"Excellent." Morvay beckoned Peter over and gave him instructions to confirm to the chef that there would indeed be two guests joining the normal dinner party tonight.

John took the opportunity to try and fit all the bits and pieces he knew about Morvay into place, reconciling them with the man in front of him. He was definitely the man in charge despite not much looking the part. He'd known the answer to every detailed question John had asked him and the deference with which everyone treated him confirmed that he was the one running the show. He was a slippery one, avoiding questions he didn't want to answer and having managed to evade detection and capture for almost ten years as he built his status as a weapons mogul. He was smart and he was dangerous and he had a reputation for personally killing anyone who double crossed him.

He and Rose would have to tread carefully tonight as to not raise undue suspicion under Morvay's sharp gaze. The two of them together was the real wildcard on this mission and dinner would be the real test of their ability to work together.

All John could hope for was that they were up to the challenge.

John continued chatting with Morvay about dinner and his fictional plans in Paris until he heard Rose approaching the room, voice carrying in the stone halls. He trailed off in the middle of a sentence as he listened and Morvay chuckled.

"You are obviously very besotted with your lady friend," he said.

John let his smile grow fond. "That I am. I'm lucky she puts up with me."

"Are you sure she is to be trusted?"

"I trust her with my life," he answered, surprised with how true the words tasted on his tongue. "And therefore I trust her to be here," he continued. "She has no interest in your business dealings. To her this brief stop is just a necessary evil on our way to Paris."

"I will trust your judgment," the smaller man said with a nod, turning towards the corridor from which Rose's voice was emanating. "And I look forward to meeting the lovely girl who garners so much interest from a discerning man such as yourself."

John was distracted from answering by Rose's entrance into the room. Her eyes locked with his after a brief glance at Morvay and a grin bloomed on her face, wide and as brilliant as the sun.

John was mesmerized.

She gave no warning before she was running across the room, faster than he would have expected her to be able to run in those heels. Rose practically launched herself at him and before he could figure out what was happening, she was plastered against him, one hand buried in his curls and those lips that were such a devastating distraction at the most innocuous of times were slanting over his own in a decidedly carnal hello kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

Two updates within a week? I promise the world is not actually ending, I'm just motivated at the moment to write this :)  
This is a short chapter again and I'm still thinking two more chapters after this.

* * *

John took less than a second to respond to Rose's unexpected action. He gripped her hip with one hand and splayed the other against her mid-back to pull her infinitesimally closer to him. He opened his mouth underneath her onslaught, inviting her in. This could be the only chance had had to kiss her and he certainly wasn't going to waste it.

Rose wasted no time in accepting the offered invitation, tongue darting in playfully to explore the unknown realm of his mouth. He was attempting to chase her tongue back into her own mouth and establish some sort of control when she pulled back, gently pulling at his lower lip with her teeth as she did.

He didn't let her go without a fight, leaning forward to lay his own kiss on her lips before letting her pull back for good.

"Hello, darling," she breathed after a moment, close enough that her breath hit his now sensitized lips.

John opened his eyes to meet her brown ones that were twinkling mischievously at close range. "Hi."

He was extremely aware of how very pressed against him she was and of the fact that he'd been right to assume earlier that she hadn't been able to hide a bra under that dress. The confirmation of that particular hunch was going to drive him mental the rest of the night, he just knew it.

(The way Rose was looking up at him with her tempting tongue perched between her teeth and an arched eyebrow told him that she knew exactly how she was affecting him.)

Morvay cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt such a touching scene but I don't believe we've had the pleasure, miss."

Rose slowly peeled herself off of John and turned to face the weapons mogul they were here to take down. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself," she said, expression anything but apologetic.

She extended a hand. "Marion Lewis, John's plus one. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Wilson Morvay," he answered before raising her hand to his lips to brush a kiss across her knuckles, "and the pleasure is all mine."

"Well, aren't you the charmer," she said. Only her tight squeeze of John's hand, which she had grabbed after their kiss, revealed her displeasure.

"It's my philosophy that a pretty woman should always be treated like a lady," he said.

Rose's grip tightened.

"Marion, love, Mr. Morvay has invited us to stay for dinner," John said quickly, diverting attention back to himself before Rose decided that taking a swing at Morvay was worth it.

"What about Paris?" she asked, pout forming as she turned back to face her partner.

"We'll still make it in tonight, just a bit later than planned," he assured her. There was no way he was going to let them be trapped in this castle overnight and he had to make sure Rose knew the two of them were on the same page of wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"Then I suppose we'll be staying for dinner," Rose said with a decisive nod of her head as she turned to face the others once more.

"Could we maybe have a moment to freshen ourselves up beforehand?" John asked.

"Please, feel free," Morvay said. "Dinner won't be served for another half hour anyways. Nathan will show you to a room you can use."

After Morvay excused himself to get ready for dinner as well, John and Rose followed Nathan down the corridor. Rose wrapped an arm around John's waist and pressed herself against him as they walked. He wrapped an arm around her to facilitate the position.

He had to assume that there was a reason Rose had plastered herself to him and was playing up the besotted girlfriend role so much. There was no way she was just doing it for fun, or at least, he didn't think that was something she'd do given how much she apparently hated playing the blonde bimbo.

The moment the door closed between them and Nathan, Rose separated from him, taking a deep breath as she put a couple meters of space between them.

"So...," he started, ready to ask what she'd learned and maybe get a handle on why exactly she was acting the way she was.

Rose raised a finger, cutting him off as she pulled her phone out of her bag. It took her only a few moments to pull up whatever she was looking for. She tugged John away from the door and placed her phone on the ground where he'd been standing after tapping the screen.

John could feel his cheeks turning pink as the sounds of a rather… intense make out session filled the room.

"Oh my god, you're actually blushing!" Rose whispered in delight. "Hardened spy like you blushing at a recording of people snogging."

"I just wasn't expecting it," he shot back, equally as quiet.

"If you say so," she said. "Bathroom?"

"Most likely place for there to be no bugs," he agreed.

Rose grabbed her phone to maintain their noise cover and followed him into the bathroom.

"That was quite the greeting earlier," John started, watching Rose's face carefully. "Care to explain?"

He watched as her cheeks pinkened and was sorely tempted to make a comment about who was blushing now, but he bit his tongue. They only had a short amount of time to swap intel, teasing could wait until they were free and clear.

"It was pretty clear that Nathan wasn't buying our act once we were apart. I don't know what he was picking up on but I started chattering on about you and us for the entire second half of the tour and I think he was believing me by the end. Needed to seal the deal though."

"Think you managed that," John muttered.

"Oi, it was part of our cover, part of the job. Nothing personal about it," she said hotly.

"If you say so," he answered, mimicking her words from moments before.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Fill me in on what you learned. Why the _hell_ are we staying for dinner?"

"Didn't have choice. Morvay backed me into a corner and I couldn't refuse the invitation without blowing everything."

"Take it Morvay's the man behind the curtain then, yeah?"

"Yes."

"He gives me the creeps," Rose said, wrapping her arms around herself. "I hate having to be nice to people who give me the creeps."

"Just a couple of hours, then we'll be out of here," John soothed, reaching out without thinking to rest a hand on her arm.

Rose huffed out a laugh, glancing down at his hand. "You know what? You're not half bad, Doctor."

"Thank you," he preened, smile soft and genuine and completely at odds with the smug note in his voice.

"Wanker," she said, pushing at his shoulder. "Finish telling me what you learned."

"Significantly more weapons on site than expected. Add those to the ones I saw at the warehouse and it's clear that this whole operation is much bigger than they've led me to believe over the years."

"They gave me a very edited tour of the castle. Kept me away from anything important but I could get a pretty good idea of where they kept important stuff based on what they wouldn't let me see. Plus I have a good handle on the layout now in case we need to make a run for it."

"We're going to have to be very convincing at dinner if we don't want to make a run for it," John said.

"I think I can manage. You going to be able to handle it?"

"Born ready," he breathed. "You can't threaten me with the knives in your garters if I leer at you though."

"Wouldn't dream of it," she answered, deadpan, as if she hadn't done just that on the plane.

He raised an eyebrow and reached past her to stop the recording that was still playing.

"Guess we should actually get ready," Rose said, affecting breathlessness and winking at John. "Wouldn't want to scandalize your new business associates."

"Shame," he drawled, voice low. "I rather like you all mussed and well-kissed."

"Well, you'll just have to work for it again when we get back on the plane. It can be our dessert," she purred.

John's breath hitched as images of exactly what dessert could entail flashed through his mind involuntarily.

"Mmm, thought you'd like that," Rose said silkily, trailing fingertips down his arm before turning and sashaying out of the ensuite, phone in hand.

The two of them kept up the flirtatious chatter as they both checked their comms and their hidden knives, getting into character further and making sure that anyone who might be listening in had no reason to doubt their story.

John stole glances at Rose as she slipped back into the ensuite to fluff her hair and adjust her dress. It had been an hour and a half since they were sniping at each other on the plane and while they hadn't even been together most of that time, something had definitely shifted between them.

Maybe it was the fact that he could still feel the phantom of her lips moving over his or the couple seconds of honesty without animosity they'd shared in the bathroom. Whatever it was, John was finding it more and more difficult to resist flirting with intent. He had caught a glimpse of Rose behind her Marion mask and he wanted more. He'd been so resistant to working with her, had needled and whined and antagonized and had tried to boil the pull of fascination he felt down to simple physical attraction but... but he didn't think that was all there was to it.

He shook his head. Now was not the time for these kinds of ponderings. After the mission he could gauge Rose's interest when she wasn't playing a part, for now, he just needed to get them both through this dinner and out of this castle safely.


	6. Chapter 6

I do believe we're nearing the end. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm thinking one more chapter and possibly an epilogue at this point.

* * *

The first half of dinner went off almost without a hitch.

John and Rose were seated next to each other at the table, across from Morvay and Nathan. Peter was nowhere to be found.

When John asked about the man's absence, Morvay smoothly informed him that Peter been dispatched on an unavoidable and urgent errand and that he had asked him to convey his regrets to Edward that he wasn't able to join them for dinner. The whole affair set John more on edge than he already was and he could tell Rose was suspicious as well, her entire body tensing just the slightest bit, like she was getting ready to run.

He rested a hand on her knee, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles against her skin as he moved the conversation onto general dinner small talk. He complimented the castle once more and tried to draw Nathan into conversation about it but the other man had seemingly lost all his earlier enthusiasm for the topic, answering in short, clipped sentences. Rose tried to help, offering a few tidbits that she had learned on her tour but the conversation died quickly.

As the first course was served, Rose started chattering on about Paris and all the shops she wanted to visit, rambling on about other small designers that she had been in contact with for a while that she hoped to have time to meet in person.

John had to admire the amount of detail she had managed to memorize and fabricate about this cover in such a short amount of time. He wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that all the names she was dropping were actual people in the Paris fashion world.

As the salad plates were taken away and the main course dishes were served, Rose leaned over to press a kiss to John's cheek. "I'm just so lucky that Edward's taking me to Paris. It's been ages since I've been there for a holiday instead of business," she enthused, making eyes at him.

He placed a hand over the one she'd left on his thigh. "It sounds like you're planning on working while we're there anyways, sweetheart," he said dryly. "Shopping is work for you after all."

She laughed and leaned towards him a bit, affording him a view down her dress which he took as conspicuously as possible.

"Well, if you play your cards right, we might not leave our hotel room enough for me to start shopping."

He slowly dragged his eyes back up to her face to take in her smirk and let one form on his face as well. "Cheeky. I will certainly try my best."

Morvay coughed to draw their attention back to him and drew John back into a conversation about his cover's business. It took a moment for him to realize that the rhythm Rose had started tapping out on his leg a minute into this new conversation had a pattern to it.

Rose was using Morse code to talk to him.

Clever, clever girl.

He continued rambling on about his numbers from the last quarter as he decoded Rose's message.

 _N still suspicious_

As soon as he had it he shot a glance over at Nathan who had stayed silent most of the meal so far. The man was watching Rose closely and she was right. He wasn't leering or just watching her idly, his gaze was sharp and assessing.

Perhaps he'd been wrong earlier to dismiss Nathan as not the brightest henchman in the bunch.

He tapped out an "ok" on the back of Rose's hand so she knew he'd received her message.

They needed to make a quick exit before this dinner party turned into shit show, and with the amount of weaponry on the premises, John was willing to bet that both of their dinner companions were well armed.

He and Rose had, quite literally, brought knives to what could very easily become a gunfight.

 _Fight and flee?_ he tapped out.

She squeezed his thigh and then took her hand away, leaving him clueless as to what she was planning.

She chatted for another minute, picking up on Morvay's ramble about his collection of vintage guns and asking questions about them before breaking off in the middle of a sentence with a giant yawn.

"I'm so sorry," she rushed to say. "I've been up late all week working on a new collection and then didn't get any rest on the plane." She paused to smile heatedly at John and grab his hand. "Would you mind terribly if we skipped dessert?"

"Marion, love, we don't want to be rude," John murmured, playing his part and hoping that this actually worked. It would be a much smoother way to exit than staging a fight and hightailing it to the airstrip, which was his current plan.

"No, no, it's fine," Morvay cut in smoothly. "I wouldn't want to be responsible for the lady losing her beauty sleep."

"Are you sure?" Rose asked, brow wrinkling.

"Of course," he answered, gesturing for the plates to be taken away. "Our business is finished and I've already selfishly kept you from your holiday long enough."

"Thank you so much," Rose gushed, standing and reaching her hand over the table to Morvay.

He kissed it again before releasing her and shaking John's hand, accepting the spy's profuse thanks easily.

They both turned to Nathan who gave them a tight smile and a nod of his head that they took as a dismissal.

John felt hope start singing through his veins as he caught Rose's hand and led her towards the door. She made a sleepy sound and rested her head on his shoulder, cementing her story further.

He reached for the door handle and swung the heavy wooden door open.

"Well, Marion, love," he said as he stared down the barrels of several guns pointed at their heads, "it appears that our hosts were being less than truthful about being fine with us leaving early."

"The guns are a bit tacky," Rose deadpanned quietly enough so that only John could hear her clearly. "Could have just told us that they weren't ready for us to leave. Would have been much more polite."

"I agree wholeheartedly," John answered, shutting the door with a thud and putting the small barrier back between himself and the guns.

There was a beat of silence in the room until a deep voice filled with confusion broke it.

"Sir, what's going on?"

John and Rose both turned around in shock at those words coming out of Morvay's mouth.

"Haven't you guessed, Wilson?" Nathan drawled out. The taller man stood and started around the table, approaching John and Rose, sharp smile looking out of place on his face. "Our guests are not who they claim to be."

"I rather thought Morvay was in charge," John commented lightly, trying once more to suss out the actual organization of things.

"That's because that's what I wanted you to think. All of my men seemed to think you were completely trustworthy, Mister Smythe or whoever you are. Every single one of them reported back that you were a loyal customer, that you'd been around for years and were beyond reproach."

"What makes you think differently?" John asked. "Surely a leader ought to trust the opinions of those he leads."

"Your alias is too clean," he said, contempt dripping from his words. "No one is that clean when they're helping financially backstop an illegal weapons operation." Nathan's gravelly voice sounded entirely too smug as he leaned back against the table.

"I've been under suspicion of money laundering and embezzlement multiple times. Just because I haven't been arrested on those counts doesn't make me clean," John argued. "I'm just very good at not getting caught. And I'm not using an alias."

"So who are you really?" Nathan asked, ignoring John's protest.

"Who are you?" Rose shot back, breaking into the conversation, voice shaking. "I don't know what's going on right now but I did not sign up for getting guns pointed at me."

"Sweetheart, you're just as deep into this as he is, don't go pretending otherwise," Nathan sneered.

"No, I'm not," Rose shot back, a note of panic inserted into her voice as she started backing away from the men. "I'm just a fashion designer and while this isn't my first time having guns pointed at me, I really don't care for it."

"Come off it."

"Marion, is this really the time to start panicking?" John asked, moving to follow her. She was maneuvering towards another door and he was trusting that she was using her greater knowledge of the castle layout to choose the best exit from the room.

"Yes, Edward. Really think it is. Is this why Jessica left? Because people started shooting at her when you were just trying to go on a romantic holiday?"

"There you go again! This isn't about Jessica!"

"Are the two of you really going to have a domestic right now?" Nathan interrupted.

John and Rose answered in unison, turning annoyed glares on the weapons dealer. "Yes!"

"Come on, Marion, none of this is about Jess," John wheedled.

"Jess, is it?" Rose shouted back, sounding more and more hysterical by the second. "Everything is about her. You're always comparing me to her and I never measure up!"

"Sweetheart, you know that's not true."

"Yes it is! You're always going on about 'Jessica this' and 'Jessica that' and 'Jessica and I used to do this great thing together,'" Rose accused.

"Maybe this is just your own insecurity speaking. Not my fault if you think you're not as good as my ex," John shot back.

"You should really be nicer to the lady," Morvay said, speaking up for the first time since Nathan had revealed himself as the real leader.

John sneered. "She's no lady."

Rose recoiled as if the words had been a physical blow.

John was impressed by how quickly her face ran through the emotions of hurt and anger and heartbreak. He was half convinced himself that she was in the middle of a lover's spat and he knew better.

The stage had missed out on the thespian of the century with Rose Tyler.

She sniffled once and then turned tail and raced out the door behind her, leaving her heels in her wake.

John spared a glance for Morvay and Nathan, who seemed frozen in shock, and then sprinted after her calling her name.

He caught up with her within a few seconds grabbed her hand and kept running, mad grin on his face even as he heard Nathan yelling for people to go after them.

"Hopefully that little performance has them thinking twice about assuming we're spies," he said as they skidded around a corner.

"We _are_ spies," Rose shot back. She pulled him down a hallway to their right.

They slowed to a stop outside what seemed to John to be an arbitrarily selected room."They don't need to know that for sure. And by the way, that was some brilliant acting back there."

"You did say fight and flee earlier. Thought it was actually in order this time around."

Rose reached under her dress and emerged, not with the knife John was expecting, but with a lockpick.

John furrowed his brow in confusion, glancing from the hem of her dress to her face and back again. "Exactly how many things are you keeping in those garters?"

"If I told you I'd have to kill you," she intoned before flashing a grin up at him and crouching down to work on the lock.

She had no more than inserted the lock pick when he heard footfalls approaching them rapidly.

"We've got company," he hissed. "You have about fifteen seconds until they're around the corner and in sight."

"Shut up and let me work, then."

"Are you really going to sit there and try to pick a lock when there are people coming after us with guns at this very second?"

The lockpick slipped, undoing Rose's work. "Shit, shit, shit," she mumbled. "You got a better plan?"

"Indeed." He yanked her to her feet and grabbed the hand that wasn't holding her lockpick. "Run!"

"This is not a plan," Rose argued as they shot down the corridor, leading him through a complicated series of turns in an attempt to lose their pursuers and get closer to a viable exit.

"Running is always a plan. Works for me brilliantly most of the time."

"Oh good," she quipped, pulling him to the right. "We are not making my comment about you running out of lives while working with me come true. This is a terrible plan."

"Don't want to become a prophetess?"

"Prophetesses usually end up dead if you haven't noticed." she said, breath starting to come faster. "So, no, ta, not the career path for me. Even though it turns out I was right about me losing my heels and us running for our lives in a weapons cache with no backup."

"You're really hating being right right about now, aren't you?" he asked.

"You are having entirely too much fun."

"And you're not?"

"No. We're being chased by people with guns."

"Ideal date night, remember?"

" _John_."

John pulled them to a stop, stepping into an alcove set into the wall. "We lost them about six turns ago. Now, admit it. I know you're having at least a bit of fun."

Rose rolled her eyes, exasperated smile gracing her face for a moment. "This is not the time to have this conversation, Doctor."

He smiled at her. "Then when is the time?"

"You're incorrigible."

"You're avoiding the question."

"After we've gotten out of the castle and either made it back to the plane or contacted someone for an alternate exit strategy."

"Best get moving then. I'm going to bet that they sent Peter to babysit the plane and our pilot," John said.

"Might be too busy chasing us to have told him we're making an escape," Rose mused, reaching out to stick her lockpick in one of the inside pockets of his jacket.. "He likes you. Might let us go if we can convince him that we're not who his bosses say we are."

"Sounds like a good plan," he said with a decisive nod, suppressing a shiver as her fingers grazed his chest.. "Plane is plan A, running for cover and contacting backup is plan B."

"I don't think we can call anything plan A anymore."

"Fair enough," he agreed. "What plan are we on, then?"

"At least D."

"How many plans do you have?" He asked genuinely curious. It was fascinating to watch Rose work. It was so different from his own MO but it worked just as well and didn't clash with his as much as he had anticipated. "Like, is there a plan M?"

"You die in plan M," she answered absently, peering around him to check the hallway. "Now let's get moving."

"What do you mean I die in plan M?" he hissed as he trailed after her. If he had his bearings right, they were heading towards the west wall of the building.

"I mean you tragically die in that particular plan."

"Why do you have plans where I die?"

"I'm not planning on implementing the plan so shut it or they're going to find us again," Rose snapped.

John was silent for a couple of minutes, musing over the fact that somehow Rose had become the one in charge, at least for the moment, despite all of his posturing at the beginning about how this was _his_ mission and she was just along for the ride.

He rather thought that she'd used much the same tactics to reach this point as he usually did. Pretend you're in charge and people just go along with it.

Good to know it worked on him as well, given the right circumstances.

"By the way," Rose said, breaking the silence as they entered another corridor, "don't think I haven't forgotten that you made me lose my favorite heels. I plan on being pissed about it later."

"You plan too much."

"Oh, shut up."

"But I also plan on buying you a replacement pair when we get back home. Would be a crime for you to lose shoes that make your legs look that good."

Rose paused and looked over at him, studying his face carefully. He wasn't sure what she found but there was a small smile on her face when she looked away and started moving again. "Now you're just sucking up."

"Is it working?"

"Ask me when we've gotten out of this mess."

"Postponing a lot of conversations, Miss Lewis," John observed.

"And yet we're still managing to talk through our whole escape, Mr. Smythe," she shot back.

They turned another corner and Rose's face split into a grin. "That's our exit," she said, gesturing towards the door at the end of the hall.

"Then let's go. We can find a car to steal and head to the airstrip and get the hell out of here."

"Eager, are we?" Rose asked, jogging towards the door.

"Have lots of interesting conversations to look forward to on the plane," he answered with a wink.

"Just go," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "I can hear people coming this way and we need to be gone."

John stilled for a second listening for whatever Rose could hear. There was indeed faint shouting heading in their direction.

He sprung back into action, racing out the door with Rose close on his heels. He scanned the area quickly before zeroing in on what looked like a garage. He jerked his head in that direction to indicate where they were heading before slipping his hand into hers and taking off.

They made it across the drive without being shot at and presumably not being seen and slipped into the outbuilding. John immediately went for the sports car, figuring it would get them there the fastest even if it didn't provide much cover.

He quickly popped open the panel under the steering wheel and started the process of hotwiring the car.

"I'd make a comment about boys and their toys but I'm honestly really glad you're here because I'm shit at hotwiring," Rose said, settling into the passenger seat.

The car roared to life and he grinned at her before climbing into the driver's seat. "I was always rather good at it. Might want to hang on for the driving part though."

Rose narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Let's just say I've gotten lots of complaints."

Before Rose could say anything more, John put the car in gear and stomped on the gas pedal, sending them speeding out of the garage with Rose's shout ringing in the air.

John laughed as they tore into the clear space, racing towards the airstrip.

The sound of gunshots rose over the roar of the engine and both spies ducked down instinctively.

"Think they found us," John shouted.

"Just get us to the airstrip. You took the fastest car and they'll take a couple minutes to get organized."

When he glanced over to make sure Rose was alright, picking up on the stress in her voice, he found her texting.

"What are you doing?"

"Telling the pilot we're coming in hot. Also alerting backup, we're out of the range of whatever signal jammer they were using around the castle."

He pressed down harder on the gas in response.

Within minutes they screeched to a stop just outside the airstrip warehouse. They abandoned the car and ran into the warehouse, heading towards the plane that was just starting its engines.

They were halfway to the plane when they heard Peter shouting behind them.

"Stop! Stop or I'll shoot!" the criminal yelled.

John and Rose turned around to see him waving a pistol at them as he approached.

"Peter, don't do this," John urged, putting his hands up in a non-threatening manner.

"I have to. The boss called and told me everything. You've been lyin' to us."

"No, he has it all wrong!" the spy said. "He just won't listen to us so we have to get out of here before he kills us. Please just let us go."

Peter's gun wobbled a bit as he considered but then his face hardened. "Can't do that, mate."

With that he grabbed Rose, wrapping one arm around her midsection and pulling her into him, gun pressed to her temple.

John froze, fear icing his veins.

"Peter…"

"No. You're both staying here until the boss gets here."

"Do you even know who your boss is?" John asked, eyes darting between Peter's face and Rose's. She didn't look at all scared but he already knew first hand how good of an actor she was.

"You met him earlier," the man answered, brow furrowing in confusion. "Morvay met with you."

"There are things you do-"

"Edward," Rose interrupted, shaking her head slightly. "Edward, get in the plane."

He just blinked at her. "Marion, I'm not leaving you here."

"Get. In. The. Plane."

John took a few steps back like he was going to listen to her and head to the plane, never taking his eyes off his partner.

In a split second, her face shifted into a feral snarl and she moved lightning fast. John was sure he hadn't blinked but he also couldn't definitively say exactly how Rose had gone from being held at gunpoint to having her knife to Peter's throat.

"So that's why they call you the Bad Wolf," he commented, trying to sound nonchalant as he replayed the moment in his head, her eyes flashing and teeth bared as she took out her opponent.

She was electric, stunning. Elemental, even.

He really wanted to know what that snarl tasted like but there was no time.

Rose shrugged, oblivious to the direction his thoughts had taken. "I didn't choose the name. Could you get the gun, please? I'd feel better if we had it instead of leaving it here."

John picked up the gun and emptied it of all its ammo, stashing that in his pockets before tossing the gun away from them. "Not big on guns," he explained with a shrug.

"Me neither. Rather fond of my knife," Rose said, visibly pressing it harder into Peter's skin.

"He coming with us?" John asked.

"I'd rather he didn't."

"Seconded."

"Do the honors?" Rose asked, that untamed smile playing around the corners of her mouth again.

"With pleasure," he drawled.

Rose released the criminal, pushing him towards her partner. John took aim at the stumbling man and swung, connecting his fist with his jaw and knocking him out cold.

"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing towards the plane as he looked back at Rose.

She was biting her bottom lip, watching him carefully, look in her eye that he couldn't quite place. "I think we shall."

"Well then, best run for it," he said, hearing cars squealing to a stop outside.

"Is that always your plan?" Rose asked.

"Got me in one," he shot back.

She was laughing as they took off towards the plane and John's heart soared at the sound.

They had a long plane ride left together and a number of conversations to have but the adrenaline running through his veins had brimming with excitement instead of nerves.


	7. Chapter 7

And here we are at the end of the story! Thank you so much for sticking with me and this fic. I had a grand time writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it!

* * *

They didn't talk to each other during take off. John informed the pilot that they were heading back to HQ and then immediately called in the situation so that the appropriate response team could be dispatched to the castle.

Rose settled in one of the chairs and watched out the window as the angry weapons dealers on the ground grew smaller and smaller.

"I doubt we've seen the last of them," she commented idly, crossing her legs and looking up at John who was just hanging up the phone.

"People from the more military branch of our employers are heading their direction now," he said, flopping down inelegantly in the chair opposite hers.

Rose wrinkled her nose. "Not my preferred method of doing things."

The image of Rose with her knife to Peter's throat flashed through John's head. "As you said," he drawled, "you like knives."

"And getting things done myself," she agreed.

Silence fell between them, the hum of the engines filling the empty space as they confronted their first interaction without a mission to hand.

John leaned forward when she started fiddling with the knife she'd left on the side table when she sat down.

"So," he started, "we left quite a few conversations unfinished back there."

"Did we?" Rose asked, fake innocence dripping from every word as she continued toying with the knife.

"We did and I don't intend on letting them drop," he declared. He reached over and swiped the knife from her.

"Making you nervous?" she asked with a smile that again recalled the flash of feralness that he'd seen on the airstrip.

"You've do that well enough on your own without a knife," he admitted, tucking the knife away underneath the chair cushion. "Rather you not have a weapon at hand while we talk."

"I have another knife."

"One day I'm going to insist on seeing how you manage to fit so many things under your dress," John said, eyes flicking down to the hem of the garment in question. He'd looked for any telltale bulges or odd lines throughout the mission but could never detect that she was armed. It was rather impressive.

"Play your cards right and you might just get to," Rose responded, smirk on her face.

It was the flirtation in her voice more than her words, the same tone that he'd heard when she was playing her part that had hope rising in him. There was absolutely no need for Rose to be flirting with him right now unless she genuinely wanted to.

"So," she said, leaning back in her seat, "where do you want to start?"

John mirrored her movement, settling back. He crossed his arms over his chest and let a lazy smile drift over his face, hoping that he was exuding the easy confidence he was known for and not the nerves that were creeping up on him. "I want you to admit it," he said.

"Admit what?"

"That you were having fun back there."

"Running for our lives?"

He nodded his head.

"I suppose it _was_ rather exhilarating," she said slowly, "even if it did mean we'd failed part of our mission."

"Found out who was really in charge because things went sideways though," John pointed out.

"Also lost my heels because things went sideways," she shot back. "And I haven't forgotten that you said you were buying me a new pair. I'm taking you up on that."

"Good, I meant it."

"Did you mean all of it?" she asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. The gesture was oddly shy, at odds with the bold front she showed him most of the time, at odds with the flirt inherent in her words and tone.

This woman would never stop being a puzzle and John was eager to continue trying to figure out more pieces of her.

"I did. You looked amazing in those heels. Hell," he said, running a hand through his already disheveled curls before gesturing at her, "you look amazing without the heels."

"You really are sucking up, aren't you?" she asked with a laugh.

"You haven't told me if it's working yet or not."

"Well," she started, "I suppose I don't want to strangle you anymore."

"Progress," he drawled.

Rose continued, talking over him. "Unless you're into that kind of thing. I'm not one to judge."

John choked on his tongue, not having expected that unambiguous of a hint that she was... well, that she was actually interested.

Rose's smile grew wider the longer he struggled to find words. Finally she took pity on him and started talking again.

"Just so you know, you were as impressive in the field as everyone said you were."

"Really?" he asked, curious about the fact that people apparently talked about him around the office in a capacity other than complaining about him.

"Really. Not even as hard to work with as people made you out to be," she admitted.

John chuckled, thinking about all the partners he'd deliberately run off. "To be fair, some of the people who complained about me were probably incompetent."

Rose nodded her head in agreement.

"You were rather impressive yourself," he continued. "Your acting is superb and using Morse code at dinner was a stroke of genius."

"It always comes in handy in a pinch. Not everyone catches onto it as fast as you did though," she said.

"Well, I am brilliant."

"And modest, too," she teased.

"Haven't gotten that part down yet."

"Noticed that."

"Have to have a character flaw of some sort, otherwise people would get bored of my perfection," he said, tossing his head dramatically.

Rose dissolved into laughter. "You're ridiculous," she managed.

"All part of my charm."

"So, were there any other conversations on the agenda for the ride back, or have we covered them all?" Rose asked, still obviously amused.

"Think those were all the major unfinished ones," John said. "Though, we could talk about possibly working together again. If you want."

"Romana is never going to let us hear the end of it if we do."

"She's never going to let us hear the end of it regardless," he argued. "We ran a successful mission and you didn't try to murder me, she considers that the staple of a good working relationship."

Rose bit down on her bottom lip, worrying it between her teeth as she thought. John's eyes were inexorably drawn down to her mouth, still painted bright red despite the meal they'd had and all the running afterwards. He was just distracted enough that he flinched when Rose started speaking.

"The thing is, I'm not sure Romana is going to let us work together again," Rose said.

John's eyebrows drew together. "Why the hell not?"

"Because I think I might want to find out what a non-working relationship with you is like."

John felt like he might actually be able to fly without the help of the plane. "Are you saying..."

"That I don't want to kill you anymore and would rather like to kiss you without an audience of criminals and see where it goes?" she rambled out. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Her nerves made a reappearance in her swift speech and the way she was picking at her nails in her lap. It was nice to know that he could at least read her a little bit when she was being herself, John thought. That she was even open to being herself around him and not the Bad Wolf, agent extraordinaire, or Marion Lewis, besotted fake girlfriend, was making him a bit giddy.

He grinned. "I wholeheartedly agree with that idea. Although, for the record, I never wanted to kill you."

"Suck up," Rose muttered.

"Mmm, I'm quite good at it," he replied, leaning forward.

"So I'm learning," she shot back, leaning forward as well so their heads were only a few inches apart.

"And also, Romana won't have a problem with our relationship straying beyond the bounds of professionalism as long as we continue getting our work done."

"Mhm, why are you talking about Romana right now?" Rose asked pushing at his shoulder so he fell back into his seat. She followed him, abandoning her chair to straddle his lap.

He gulped, eyes slipping down to the cleavage he'd been distracted by all day that was now right in front of his face. "Who's Romana?"

"Good answer," she breathed, breath skittering across the shell of his ear as she settled onto him. She threaded the fingers of one hand through his hair and grinned when he made an appreciative noise. "Thought you liked that earlier."

"I did," he confirmed as he moved to get his hands on her. One went to grasp at her hip, the other on her lower back, just low enough that his pinky was brushing the line of her knickers. "Wanted to kiss you then."

"Probably would have socked you in the jaw," she admitted. "Nothing stopping you now though. Open invitation at the mome-"

She was cut off by John pulling her in for the kiss that they were talking about. It was slow and deep and almost nothing like the one she'd sprung on him in the castle except for the response it elicited in him.

He was already positive, as one kiss melted into a second and third and his hands started roaming over her back, that he was never going to get enough of kissing this woman. He was addicted and had no plans of kicking the habit.

When they stepped off the plane a couple of hours later, they were hand in hand and thoroughly disheveled. Romana, who was at the runway so she could debrief them as soon as they arrived, raised a questioning eyebrow at the two of them and just received twin smirks in return.

They were going to be unbearable, she just knew it.

(That didn't stop her from being incredibly smug about the whole situation as they quickly became the best team on the continent as she predicted they would. Nor did it stop her, a few years down the line, from taking all the credit for setting them up when Rose and John sent back notice that they'd gotten married while on assignment.)


End file.
